Saturday, 27 October 2012

Deepika Kurup a Malayali girl is America’s Top Young Scientist

Deepika Kurup, the US based Malayali girl whose scientific project impressed many including President Obama, has been named America’s Top Young Scientist and awarded $25,000 and an adventure trip.
She is the eldest daughter of Dr Pradeep Kurup who teaches in a university at Nashua in New Hampshire and Meena. Deepika developed a sustainable and cost effective water purification system to win the 2012 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge.
‘It feels awesome,’ Deepika told DC over phone from her home. “I put a lot of time and effort into this project and I am happy it got a recognition like this.“
A ninth grader at Nashua High School in New Hampshire, 14-year-old Deepika and nine other finalists worked with leading scientists for the last three months. The idea was to take up a theoretical concept and convert it into an a prototype that would solve a problem in everyday life.

Deepika’s system harnessed solar energy to disinfect contaminated water.
On October 16, the finalists shared their innovations with a panel of judges and also competed in two other challenges. They were evaluated on their knowledge and creativity.
It has been noted that her innovation “can help improve the lives of the 1.1 billion people around the world who lack access to clean drinking water.” Dr Pradeep, whose parents are settled in Chennai, went to the US in 1983 for higher studies and Meena joined him there in 1994.
On August 18, after Deepika was listed among the 10 finalists for the science contest, the family was called in by President Obama for a chat. The President said he had read a newspaper report about Deepika’s project. Deepika says she would try to refine her prototype further. However it is neurology that interests her more.
“I think brain is the most complex organ and I would like to learn more about it,” says the Harry Potter fan who likes Korean pop songs and plays the clarinet and saxophone. “